David Ackert will join Montreal-based engineer WSP Global Inc. as CEO of its WSP Canada Inc. unit when the parent firm completes its stock and cash purchase of Focus Group Holding Inc., a 1,700-person design and geomatics company in Edmonton, Alberta. The $366-million deal, announced on March 12, is set to close within one month, said publicly traded WSP. Ackert is now president and CEO of Focus Group Holdings, which specializes in the oil-and-gas sector and has $280 million in revenue, says a published report in Canada. It "did well" when owned by a private equity fund, says Scott Kolbrenner of investment banker Houlihan Lokey.

ACKERT

Ackert also will become director of WSP's oil-and-gas network, while Marc Rivard will continue as president and COO of WSP Canada Inc. The transaction will add 1,700 employees to WSP, for a workforce total of 16,700, the firm said; about 6,700 will be in Canada. WSP Global CEO Pierre Shoiry said the acquisition will boost the parent firm's presence in western Canada and its sector expertise in upstream, oil sands, midstream and LNG export infrastructure development. Shoiry had been CEO of Montreal-based Genivar Inc., which bought WSP in 2012 but now uses its name for the global firm. It has made 80 acquisitions since he became CEO in 1995.

FREELON

Phil Freelon has joined architect Perkins + Will, Chicago, as managing and design director of its North Carolina practice, based in Research Triangle Park. The new role follows the architect's link with Freelon's former firm, The Freelon Group, which the companies call a "two-way merger." Perkins + Will has 1,500 employees in the U.S.; The Freelon Group has 42. The Chicago firm says the combination will boost its mid-Atlantic design presence.

Countywide Mechanical Systems, a Santee, Calif., subcontractor, has

DUKE

named Paul Duke as president. He had been president of Comfort Systems, San Diego. Countywide, a unit of MMC Corp., specializes in the installation, service and maintenance of commercial HVAC, plumbing, electrical and solar projects.

Linda S. Sullivan will join American Water Works Co. Inc., the largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility company, as senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective on April 28. She now serves as senior vice president and chief financial officer of electric utility Southern California Edison, a position she has held since 2009. In her new role, Sullivan will succeed Susan Story, who will become American Water president and CEO on May 9. American Water provides drinking-water, wastewater and other services to 14 million North American customers.

CSOGI

In a planned succession, engineer-construction management firm Greenman-Pedersen Inc., Babylon, N.Y., has elevated Ralph D. Csogi to president and CEO. A 30-year company management veteran, he was senior vice president of corporate marketing and business development and branch manager in Babylon. He succeeds Steve Greenman, who becomes chairman. Csogi is a founding member of the International Association for Bridge Maintenance and Safety and a past committee chairman of the Transportation Research Board.

Hill International, Marton, N.J., has elevated a number of managers in its global offices to senior vice president. Promoted in the construction claims group are Geoffrey J. Bewsey and Stephen C. Briggs in London; Robert A. Dieterle in Marlton; Benjamin Highfield and Christopher Pedersen in Dubai; Wendy MacLaughlin in Brisbane, Australia; and L. Adam Winegard in Los Angeles. In its project management group, José Manuel Albaladejo Cañedo-Arguelles, based in Mexico City, now is in charge of Latin American operations. Also elevated in the group is Michael S. Luciani in Marlton. Two new vice presidents also have joined Hill: Keith W. Pearson, former human-resources director at engineer WHKS & Co., who now manages corporate human resources based in Athens, Greece; and Hector D. Davila, who was a principal transportation engineer at CALTRANS and is now in the project management group in Ontario, Calif.

DLR Group, an Overland Park, Kan., design firm, has named Charles Dalluge president and chief operating officer. Based in Phoenix, he was executive vice president of Leo A Daly. DLR ranks at No. 101 on ENR's Top 500 Design Firms, with $116.3 million in 2013 revenue.

JONES

Matt Jones has joined Manhattan Construction, Tulsa, as senior vice president of project controls. He had served as vice president of operations at Skanska and, at the same time, was an adjunct professor in civil engineering, safety and construction business at Georgia Tech.

Randy Sullivan has joined Cardno Ltd., a Brisbane, Australia-based engineer, in a new executive role following its March 17 announced acquisition of PPI Group, Houston, of which he is president and CEO. Cardno did not disclose Sullivan's new Cardno title. PPI, which provides engineering services to the oil-and-gas sector in the U.S., West Africa and Asia Pacific, employs 760 staff and has $133 million in revenue, Cardno said. The company noted that PPI is its largest acquisition to date.

Parsons Corp. has hired Thomas Feldhausen as a senior vice president and director of international strategy within its security- and defense-related government-services business unit. Formerly director of corporate strategy for Lockheed Martin, he is based near Washington, D.C.

Andree Blais has joined Los Angeles law firm Nossaman LLP as of counsel in its infrastructure practice group. She was counsel at Macpherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP, Edmonton, Alberta, and also was an attorney in the provincial government, where she led the crafting of legal services for several major P3 projects.